Aamir Khan recalled how ‘Lagaan’ director Ashutosh Gowariker had received a suggestion to change the film’s ending.
Aamir Khan’s 2001 film, Lagaan is considered to be a milestone in his illustrious career. The Ashutosh Gowariker directorial upon its release, had opened to rave reviews, bagged eight National Awards and was India’s official entry to the Oscars.
You would be surprised to know that initially, Aamir was doubtful about giving his nod to Lagaan, and had even asked Ashutosh to pitch the film to other producers and actors.
In a video shared by Viral Bollywood’s YouTube channel, the superstar is seen sharing, “I told Ashutosh that your script is unbelievable but I don’t have the courage to do your film. This is so different, it is breaking so many rules of mainstream cinema but I don’t have the courage to do this. I also wondered who will produce this? I couldn’t imagine a producer who will do this sincerely. Go to England, find all the British actors and give this the scale that it needs.”
He continued, “I asked him to approach other actors with the script in case they say yes. He went to every actor in the industry, every producer and he would tell me about it.”
Aamir also recalled how Ashutosh Gowariker also received suggestions to change the film’s ending.
“Someone suggested him that Bhuvan should stab the British officer in the end. But they were very few people who actually said that this is a great script.” the actor recalled.
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The Bollywood superstar said that after he had passed Lagaan on, he would often wonder why he had given up on the film. He talked about how at that point, he thought about Bollywood legends like Bimal Roy and Guru Dutt and wondered how they took risks while making films and broke the mold of mainstream cinema.
Finally when he felt that he was in a place to try something new, he asked Ashutosh to narrate Lagaan’s script in front of his parents. By the end of the narration, his parents were in tears.
“My father said that I don’t know if this will work or not but I know that when you make a film, it should be a great story and this is it. My mother said you should do this and it gave me the confidence,” Aamir shared in his interview.
Aamir finally agreed to take up the film, both in the capacity of an actor and a producer, and the rest is history. Over the years, Lagaan continues to be cherished by the audience.
